CEO Abdullah Abdullah on Monday said political parties and the public should be assured of transparency in the upcoming polls, saying surrendering Daesh rebels in Jawzjan province should be dealt with in accordance with their acts.
Abdullah also rejected rumors that some areas were being handed over to the Taliban and said current relations between the US and the Taliban would pave the ground for government-Taliban talks.
Political parties concerns about elections
Abdullah, talking to the council of ministers, hoped the Wolesi Jirga and district councils as well as presidential elections would take place on their schedules.
The Wolesi Jirga and district council elections are due on October 20.
The CEO said people’s worries about the elections should be responded because the people had braved many threats while registering to vote.
“Many people and political parties have questions about the elections and the election system and all demand on time and transparent polls,” Abdullah said.
On July 14, leaders and representatives of a number of political parties termed the voter registration process as inappropriate, fraudulent and demanded fresh registration of voters using the biometric system.
The parties, including Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan, Jamiat-I-Islami Afghanistan, Wahadat-i-Islami Afghanistan and Junbish-i-Milli and some other parties, stressed transparency in upcoming polls by switching to Multi-Dimensional Representation (MDR) from the current Single-Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) system.
Daesh or IS surrender in Jawzjan
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, talking about Daesh rebels surrender to the government in Jawzjan province, said: “They were detained during clashes with security forces, their surrender does not mean they are innocent or the government should ignore their crimes.”
He said that the surrendering Daesh militants should be dealt with in accordance with their deeds. A discussion about the issue with security officials would also be held, he said.
According to reports, around 250 Daesh insurgents joined the government in Jawzjan last week.
Peace talks
About rumored handover of some areas to the Taliban, the CEO said that these rumors were baseless and the government would never give any area to the rebels.
“It is a wrong rumor, Taliban are enemies of the Afghan people until they continue fighting, Al Qaeda, Daesh and many other insurgent groups are operating here and none are better than the other,” Abdullah said.
Pointing to the Taliban-US talks in Qatar, he said the Afghan government was in close contact about the talks.
He said the US-Taliban talks would pave the ground for direct talks between the insurgent group and the Afghan government. Peace talks are under full leadership of the Afghan government and nothing else is above it, he concluded.
This article originally appeared in Pajhwok News on August 06, 2018. Original link.
Disclaimer: Views expressed on this blog are not necessarily endorsed or supported by the Center for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad.
